The invention relates to a cooling circuit arrangement for an internal combustion engine in accordance with the features of the preamble of claim 1.
Such an arrangement is disclosed in the EP 0 219 351 A2, where the cooling jackets, integrated into the cylinder banks, are provided with cooling liquid by means of a coolant pump, disposed between the V-shaped cylinder banks on one face side of the internal combustion engine. On the other face side of the internal combustion engine there is a collecting pipe for the coolant, flowing back from the cylinders and a radiator circulation. Owing to the collecting pipe, provided with several connections, the actual dimensions of the internal combustion engine are exceeded so that, especially when the motor is installed lengthwise into the vehicle, there is a demand for construction space that the passenger space no longer has to offer.
Thus, the invention is based on the problem of providing a structural arrangement for a cooling circuit in an internal combustion engine with cylinders arranged in the shape of a V. In this arrangement the existing free space is utilized so that the actual dimensions of the internal combustion engine are not exceeded.
The invention solves this problem with the characterizing features of claim 1.
Since the space existing between the two cylinder banks is used for a part of the coolant arrangement, the internal combustion engine exhibits a compact design that is especially appropriate for longitudinal installation into a motor vehicle. On the face side, assigned to the coolant distributor pipe, it is possible to attach in a simple manner a transmission to the internal combustion engine, since none of the parts of the cooling circuit arrangement impede access during installation.
Other advantages and advantageous further developments of the invention are disclosed in the dependent claims and the description.
The cylinder block and the cylinder head are cooled, as required, by means of the parallel, i.e. the simultaneous, coolant flow through the cylinder block and the cylinder head housing without any additional control systems. The motor reaches quickly its operating temperature. Thus, the cold running phase is reduced; and consequently the fuel consumption and the raw emissions can be reduced. Due to the parallel division of the coolant flow, the cross sections of the cooling channels in the cylinder block can be decreased so that the construction space and thus also the weight of the internal combustion engine can be further decreased. In contrast to serial coolant flow through the cylinder block and the cylinder head, the pressure loss in the cooling circuit decreases, thus making it possible to select less input power for the water pump.
With the aid of the two return flow chambers, which are disposed at the coolant pump and which are connected together by means of an opening, which can be controlled by a thermostat, a regulator can be realized that can be built compactly between the two cylinder banks and with which a small and large coolant circulation and a heating circulation can be operated. Since in the installed state of the internal combustion engine in the vehicle, the regulator and the coolant pump are arranged, seen in the direction of travel, on the front face side of the internal combustion engine, it is readily accessible for maintenance and repair work.
The bottom part of the two return flow chambers, which consist of one module, is cast in an advantageous manner together with the housing of the coolant pump in the upper part of the crankcase.